Egypt, the land of pyramids, is facing one of its worst economic crises in decades. With a debt burden of nearly $160 billion and declining revenues from the Suez Canal due to Red Sea conflicts, the country is struggling to stay afloat.

In a recent move, Egypt signed an $18.5 billion deal with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, allowing their companies to build a massive tourism complex on the Red Sea coast. UAE’s Emaar Properties and Saudi Arabia’s City Star Group will jointly invest 900 billion Egyptian pounds in the Marassi Red Sea Project, which promises to generate 170,000 jobs.

However, experts argue that these “investments” look more like a forced sell-off. In the past, both Saudi Arabia and the UAE extended loans to Egypt. But as Cairo failed to stabilize its economy, Gulf nations started demanding land and strategic projects instead of fresh loans.

While the Egyptian government projects optimism, aiming for $42 billion in foreign direct investment and 30 million tourists by 2028, critics call it a desperate attempt to stay solvent. The real question remains: is Egypt reviving its economy or selling its sovereignty piece by piece?